The British Invasion had a profound impact particularly within the music industry. It helped to quickly internationalize rock and roll, instituting British popular music as the centre of the international music industry; furthermore, it allowed British bands to attain international popularity and achievement.
"I couldn't wait for success so I went ahead without it." |
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British groups, particularly the Beatles, grew so popular among the American youth that many American musicians tried to emulate their styles. Roger McGuinn acknowledged the dept that American artists owed to British musicians when he used the “folk music licks” of the Searchers; however, the British Invasion also flattened the emerging, American styles of surf music, pre-Motown styles, and the folk revival. |
"We were driving through Colorado, we had the radio on, and eight of the Top 10 songs were Beatles songs...'I Wanna Hold Your Hand,' all those early ones. They were doing things nobody was doing. Their chords were outrageous, just outrageous, and their harmonies made it all valid... I knew they were pointing the direction of where music had to go."
- Bob Dylan
Many British bands in the 1960s tried to follow their predecessors and uniquely interpret rock and rock themselves; moreover, their unique images and abnormal chord changes provided a new insight into rock and roll. This “teenage” identity of rock and roll grew popular among the American youth, which led to 173 British songs topping the American chart. |
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